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November 26, 2014

Top 5 over 500!

Hello, and welcome to another Top 5 Wednesday list! This week we are demolishing our shelves, trying to find our top 5 books over 500 pages. Yes, that's right - 500 pages! Luckily I do have rather a few huge books on my shelves but as I was riffling through I realised that a few of them were in my TBR shelves. Bugger! Can't put those in my top 5, so this is what I ended up with...

Through Wolf's Eyes by Jane Lindskold

608 pages

This is the first book in the Firekeeper Saga, and essentially is about a girl who lost her parents when she was a young child and happened to be found and taken in by a pack of intelligent wolves. Years later, they send her back to the humans {as they'd promised her mother} and the humans think that she is the lost heir to the throne (I think?) and there is a lot of political manoeuvring involved. Set in an equivalent medieval era, it is a great introduction to Jane Lindskold if you love adult fantasy.

PS - this item is no longer available on Book Depository, etc. Can find it on sites like AbeBooks.com {that's where I just ordered mine from ;-D}

Divine by Mistake by P.C. Cast

698 pages

This is the first book in Cast's Partholon Trilogy. The story revolves around Shannon Parker, a teacher, and during her summer vacation she purchases, at auction, a
Celtic vase and finds herself magically transported to the world of Partholon where
she becomes the Goddess Incarnate of Epona and must find a way to return
to Oklahoma before war erupts - oh, and she is married off to a centaur! ;-D

Much better than her series with daughter, this is an light, adult contemporary/fantasy trilogy.

Gladiatrix by Rhonda Roberts

582 pages

I love it when I can plug a great book from an Australian author!

When time travel was invented, everyone thought it would solve their
problems. But for 22-year-old Kannon, it's about to turn her life
upside down. Left for dead in the Blue Mountains when she was just a
baby, Kannon has now discovered that an American Time Marshal, Victoria
Dupree, could be her real mother. But Victoria has gone missing in
ancient Rome while investigating the Hierophant, the mysterious leader
of the Isis cult. Kannon desperately wants to find Victoria, but the US
National Time Administration is standing in her way ...

So amazing! The next two books in the series have been published, Hoodwinked (set in the 20's I think), and Coyote (which is set in Wild West USA).

A Kiss of Shadows by Laurell K. Hamilton

521 pages

I love this series, and stumbled across A Kiss of Shadows when it was first published way back when. It is an adult contemporary fantasy series with explicit sex scenes, so if that's something that bothers you then I'd recommend you either skim those scenes, or try another book. This series is NOT FOR YOUNGER READERS!

Merry Gentry, princess of the high court of Faerie, is posing as a
human in Los Angeles, working as a private investigator specializing in
supernatural crime. But now the queen's assassin has been dispatched to
fetch her--whether she likes it or not. Suddenly Merry finds herself a
pawn in her dreaded aunt's plans. The job that awaits her: enjoy the
constant company of the most beautiful immortal men in the world.

The
reward: the crown--and the opportunity to continue to live.

The penalty
for failure: death.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

690 pages

A world of
witches, daemons and vampires. A manuscript which holds the secrets of
their past and the key to their future. Diana and Matthew - the
forbidden love at the heart of it. When historian Diana Bishop opens an
alchemical manuscript in the Bodleian Library, it's an unwelcome
intrusion of magic into her carefully ordered life. Though Diana is a
witch of impeccable lineage, the violent death of her parents while she
was still a child convinced her that human fear is more potent than any
witchcraft. Now Diana has unwittingly exposed herself to a world she's
kept at bay for years; one of powerful witches, creative, destructive
daemons and long-lived vampires. Sensing the significance of Diana's
discovery, the creatures gather in Oxford, among them the enigmatic
Matthew Clairmont, a vampire geneticist. Diana is inexplicably drawn to
Matthew and, in a shadowy world of half-truths and old enmities, ties
herself to him without fully understanding the ancient line they are
crossing.
As they begin to unlock the secrets of the manuscript and their feelings
for each other deepen, so the fragile balance of peace unravels...

OMG! Such an amazing trilogy! Can't say enough great things about these books, and would recommend anyone who loves magic, witches, forbidden love and history to pick up this book!

plus an

At just a smidge under the 500 page limit - 487 pages to be exact - I had to include Written in Red by Anne Bishop as an Honourable Mention as I love this book so much! While not targeted as a YA fantasy, this book is a great read for anyone (of any age!) that loves shapeshifters, elemental beings, vampires with a difference, and other magical beings and wants to segue into adult fantasy.

This is the first book in The Others series, the second book, Murder of Crows, is currently out in hardcover/trade while the third - and hopefully not last - book in the series, Vision in Silver, is due for release next March! I so want an ARC copy of ViS! - if anyones listening {*hint hint *} :-D

So if you loved Written in Red and are
looking for more of Anne Bishop's books that are aimed at an adult
audience, then I would highly recommend that you try her Black Jewels series.

You'll might have noticed 3 a glaring omission from this list. There is no LOTR, nor any Harry Potter books. I've tried to stay away from YA (sorry The Diviners and Harry!), and I only read LOTR every couple of years and since it was originally published in 3 parts, I don't really think I could put it here - that and I didn't want to be that predictable ;-D

Okay, so that's me done for another week. I hope you found something new to read, and if you want to find out more about this series, it was created by the lovely Lainey at GINGERREADSLAINEY and I'll include a link to the Goodreads group {here} if you would also like to participate.

If you have any questions, or comments, I'd love to hear from you... and you know what to do down below ;-D